[koshertattoo392]

Hello,

Personally I had never tried open back headphone in my entire life. I heard about that the people who love it appreciated the sound stage improvement it provided.

So I'm curious about is it really appropriate for daily uses? How much sound does it actually leaks? Perhaps what genres of music is open back headphone particularly good at?

Kosher.

 

[Lindholdt]

For me it's about sound stage.
If it's appropriate for daily use depends on the environment you are sitting in. If it's a tight office space with other people close to you, then no, I would not recommend open back. But if you sit mostly by yourself and listen at moderate volume, you can use open back without disturbing too much.
Some headphones leak more sound than others, like my HEKS leaks more sound than the DT990. So it's not a "one or the other" type of situation, it depends on the specific headphone that you want to use

 

[dunring]

I agree it's about soundstage, but also can be comfort because they're better ventilated than a close ear cup. You give up any hope of privacy or isolation though. There's plenty of nice closed backs, just a lot less than open ones.
Also with my daily driver Hifiman HE5XX they leak so much I put them on the desk and can hear the music fine when packaging things up across the room. Saves having to keep little desktop speakers that way.

 

[koshertattoo392]

I agree it's about soundstage, but also can be comfort because they're better ventilated than a close ear cup. You give up any hope of privacy or isolation though. There's plenty of nice closed backs, just a lot less than open ones.
Also with my daily driver Hifiman HE5XX they leak so much I put them on the desk and can hear the music fine when packaging things up across the room. Saves having to keep little desktop speakers that way.

Interesting thoughts.

My situation is kinda similar here. I usually wearing headphone where my family are sometimes chatting or walking around me, perhaps about 5 meters away from me. Never tried open back before, so not sure if the leakage of sound can be heard from this distance or not.

Another thing is that people always said closed back give the bass a fuller body whereas the open back sometimes may sound a bit emptier for the bass range, not sure about this.

 

[KaiFi]

Open-backs are easier to tune and I find they make less compromises in sound. Open-backs almost always sound good to me, whereas I'm much pickier with closed-backs. Open-backs are often cheaper for what you get. There's also much more variety to choose from.

As much as I love closed-backs, open-backs are easier to get right and they just tend to sound better. Open-backs come closest to recreating the experience of listening to speakers. I choose closed-backs much of the time because I don't have a quiet studio to listen to music in.

 

[Shane D]

For me it is simply that they are much closer to listening to speakers.

 

[earmonger]

All of the above: soundstage, comfort, ventilation, price. But open-backs leak: end of story. Some more than others -- my Grados more than my ATH-R70X. But if there is someone else in any average room, open-backs will annoy them and you should use IEMs or closed-backs.

 

[Roseval]

is it really appropriate for daily uses

As it is open the people around you will hear it and even worse, you will hear them!
At home I use an open back. For commuting I use a IEM to block the noise from the train.
Both offer excellent sound quality.

 

[elwappo99]

Hello,

Personally I had never tried open back headphone in my entire life. I heard about that the people who love it appreciated the sound stage improvement it provided.

So I'm curious about is it really appropriate for daily uses? How much sound does it actually leaks? Perhaps what genres of music is open back headphone particularly good at?

Kosher.

Closed headphones will never sound as natural as their open back equivalent. It mostly comes down to frequency response. Having a cup means that treble reflections bounce back and add extra treble energies in a very specific peak (depending on the cup material, shape, damping materials, structure's resonance, driver, etc) and also adds extra bass resonance which increases the quantity of bass, but also reduces the control of bass.

Because of this creating an even frequency response in a closed headphone is much more challenging compared to an open one. I think ETA audio and DCA are the only outfits I've seen that at least make decent headway into a well tuned closed back.

 

[UnluckyGamer]

Sound stage and comfort. I like that open back are ventilated so I can use them for longer period of time without having to remove them compared to closed back headphones

 

[Ginryuu]

I quite heard it pretty often from some people around my environment.
They told me that they like the spacious sound on open backs and the seperation between instruments and vocals.

Personally I prefer closed backs because I really like bass and I also prefer that the sound from them is coming right "in your face".
Although most people would say that closed backs sound like you are hearing your music in a can I am one of those who are preferring exactly that.

 

[koshertattoo392]

All of the above: soundstage, comfort, ventilation, price. But open-backs leak: end of story. Some more than others -- my Grados more than my ATH-R70X. But if there is someone else in any average room, open-backs will annoy them and you should use IEMs or closed-backs.

Hi there,

Since you had mentioned ventilation, does it means that open-back headphone often feels a lot cooler when wearing for long period of time compared to closed-back? Because my experience is closed-back tends to get quite warm around the ears especially during the summer.

 

[Lindholdt]

Hi there,

Since you had mentioned ventilation, does it means that open-back headphone often feels a lot cooler when wearing for long period of time compared to closed-back? Because my experience is closed-back tends to get quite warm around the ears especially during the summer.

Yes, open back can be significant cooler to wear, as there is some ventilation going on. Some more than others.
Closed back are, well closed, so the ventilation is minimal, and head builds up as it is isolated inside the cup's.

 

[ADUHF]

I haven't used any open headphones in awhile. But used to use some inexpensive on-ear Koss headphones with foam pads that were open on the sides. And they did have a more spacious sound... in part because you can hear external sounds as well as the headphones. They didn't extend well into the sub-bass though. And that's the main reason I went to closed headphones.

Closed headphones used to be the best value if you were on a tight budget. Because they had better tonal depth, were easy to EQ, and you couldn't really find decent open headphones for less than about $350-400... That is changing though. And there are more affordable (open) planars now. And also a few new open dynamic driver headphones that extend more into the bass, though they'll still probably run you at least a few hundred.

If you can afford to spend between $300-700, there are alot of good options to chose from in open-back headphones. Some HFM planars can be had for as little as $150 though!

There are also some closed-back and semi-closed dynamic headphones that can give you a somewhat more open and spacious sound, without sacrificing all the bass.

 

[JUICEe36]

I like the open style designs and the sound stage they provide. I work from home and have been home lately, along with little kids, I need to at least hear them when I'm listening and working on the computer. So the open nature lets the environment noises in while being able to listen to music, videos, etc.

Also I have come to enjoy open backs over closed back lately and only use IEMs now if I want more isolation.